Monsters
by jamester56
Summary: AU. Every little boy has a monster under his bed. Naruto's just happens to be a little more real than most.


Disclaimer: This disclaimer holds true for the rest of the story, and will not be repeated. I do not own Naruto. Canon characters are not my property, but OC's are.

AN: This is, as I mentioned, an AU fic, so before I begin, I'll fill you in on the major changes. Minor changes will become evident throughout the story. The first big change to my AU world is that Madara truly did die in the Valley of the End. Thusly, the Kyuubi was never set loose on Konoha, the massacre never occurred, and the Akatsuki was never formed.

The direct result of this is that Minato and Kushina are alive, Itachi is still alive, and that the members of Akatsuki are roaming the hidden countries. Elaborating on this, Itachi is also without the Mangekyou Sharingan, and Pein and Konan, having never been manipulated by Madara, embroiled Ame in a civil war that they have recently won.

Uzu(Whirlpool) was never destroyed in my world. By now, Uzu(Whirlpool), Suna, Konoha, and Ame have formed a shaky alliance. In hopes of breaking up the fragile alliance before it can truly be cemented, Oto(Sound), Mizu, Iwa, and a few of the smaller shinobi countries have launched a covert war on the new alliance.

Lastly, Orochimaru was found out as a traitor after he assassinated Danzo and a Root member reported the event to the Yondaime. The main result of this is that Danzo never gave Itachi the orders to kill his clan, and Root was disbanded and integrated into the main Shinobi forces. Since the massacre never happened the clan carried on with their coup, which failed, and resulted in a public loss of the Uchiha's reputation. Now the elder Uchiha are shunned, and the younger ones are regarded with suspicion and distrust by most of Konoha.

Little Naruto was, as he so often reminded his mother, not a baby. He was five years old, a fact which was proudly announced to anyone who asked, and was currently pouting on his bed. This was all that stupid monster's fault.

You see, earlier that night, Naruto had woken up to a growl eminating from the space underneath his bed. Young and impressionable, he immediately decided that his mother had been right, and that there was, in fact, a fearsome monster hiding underneath his bed. Understandably frightened, the small blond had leapt off his bed and run to his parents room, where he woke his mother up, and told her all about the monster.

Kushina, who had just returned from a tiring mission, dismissed his concerns and firmly told him that he was being silly. She had only been joking about the monsters, so she told her son to go back to bed, and let her rest.

So, defeated and not a little angry, Naruto did as he was told, which led to his current predicament. How was he going to convince his mom that he hadn't been lying? It wasn't long before he reached the inevitable conclusion, deciding to lure the monster out and trap the beast under the laundry basket.

Remembering the incedent yesterday, when the sushi that had fallen off his bed mysteriously vanished, the little boy decided that sushi was his bait of choice. He stealthily crept into the kitchen, and then darted back up to his room, all ready to set his trap.

At last, primitive trap set, the little boy began his long wait for the monster to take the bait. However, it was late at night, and the boy, impatient and tired, fell asleep before he could see the fruits of his labor.

Kushina slept in that morning, but when she did get up, she went to wake her son. Walking into the large room, the first thing Kushina noticed was her son, curled up around a pillow, sleeping peacefully. This was cute, but not unusual. It was the second thing that gave her pause.

In the middle of her son's floor, there was a half-eaten tray of sushi, and a laundry basket that had been turned upside down. Trapped underneath said basket, a little fox was curled up, two tails tucked under it's chin.

Her gaze moved onward, before the woman did a comical double-take. TWO TAILS? Now Kushina began to understand what had happened. The tiny kitsune must have been hiding under Naruto's bed, and last night, Naruto had heard it and decided it must be a monster. Remembering her previous conversation with her son, Kushina smirked- fearsome monster, indeed.

Knowing her son as she did, the kunoichi realized that the laundry basket, stick, and sushi had been a trap, set to capture the 'monster' so that her son could prove himself right. But the kitsune had been clever, only eating after it was sure the boy was asleep.

This, Kushina thought, would make a wonderful tale to tell her friends. Minato would also be amused at his son's antics, and proud as well. Understanding the situation, the woman crossed the room and shook her son awake. Once he had woken up, the woman showed her son the sleeping fox he had caught, and congratulated him on his victory.

Then she watched with ill concealed amusement as her son poked the fox, eyes wide with wonder. It wasn't long before the sleeping fox stirred, and when it did, Kushina was pleased to find that it was docile. So she set about preparing breakfast for the three of them, and washing the kit and boy off.


End file.
